This week we are meeting the Orthopterans-grasshoppers and crickets.   We are learning about the differences between the two groups, as well as how Orthopterans differ in general from other insects. The Weta Cricket from New Zealand is the largest cricket out there.  It's about as big as your hand and weighs as much as three mice!  We also watched a neat National Geographic video about how locusts know when to swarm.  Locust swarms can do incredible damage (they eat everything, even clothes off the line).  In Africa they have learned that if you light big fires, the smoke will confuse the insects, causing them to drop to the ground. And then, of course, the people can eat them instead. We met some live short-horned grasshoppers and raced some house crickets. House crickets are friendly little brown things!

Our delicious projects this week are Cricket Flour Brownies (note the cricket flour came pre-ground; we did not make our own from the little house crickets!). 

It's that magical time again in the late spring when fireflies (or lightning bugs) begin to emerge.  They've passed the winter in their larval stage and now are ready to fly and find mates.  The special light that fireflies emit when they flash is called bioluminescence.  It is a cool, chemical reaction that is almost 100% energy efficient.  Did you know that in some species even the eggs glow?

For some reason firefly populations are beginning to diminish.  Scientists think it may be due to light pollution in urban areas, or perhaps pesticides.  The Vanishing Firefly Project is an opportunity to participate in firefly counts so scientists can track the populations of these beautiful beetles.  Visit their website to learn more about the project and see what you can do to help.


Check out our light art photos from class:

Science class at the Science Safari this week was all about growing plants.  It's been a cool spring, so there is still time to get some veggies started - and that's just what we did!  Only our seeds came in packages with amazing artwork on the front that could come to life!  After downloading an app from PowerfulPlants.net, we could point our ipad camera at the picture, and the plant character would move and talk to us. The instructions for downloading the app are on the back of the seed packet.  This is a great way to get kids  interested in growing things. There is also a competition to design your own plant character. We hope some of our students give it a try! If you do, send us your character designs and we will post them outside the classroom.

We have more seeds available for sale at the Science Safari, so come get your garden growing!

Next week we are on to another seasonal topic: glow worms and fireflies!  These fun little insects will be emerging soon in June.

NEWS BULLETIN FROM THE SCIENCE SAFARI on EARTH.

February 7, 2236

Our teams were sent on a mission this week to locate a missing population of humans that left Earth back in 2020.  Historical records indicate the group resettled somewhere near the tip of the second spiral arm in the Milky Way Galaxy on a planet that was thought to have similar conditions to Earth at the time.

The mission briefing included information on space travel using an Alcubierre Warp drive to reduce travel time, what dangers might be encountered (black holes and supernovas), and how to avoid them. The humans will be located using infrared laser devices,  and it is hoped that they will respond with happiness to be reunited with their home planet population.  It is also hoped that there are not too many unfriendly cold blooded species on the planet since they cannot be detected with our current infrared technology.

The teams are expected to be back on Friday.

From the "Exploring the Milky Way" class, Feb 17-19

This week's class involves experiments with string and its relations - silk, thread, rope, and other types of cordage.  Silk from spiders and from silkworms is nowadays often touted as a natural alternative to synthetic fiber cordage.  It is stronger than plastic polymers, stronger (pound per pound) than steel!  We're testing the tensile strength of string and other cordage, and trying our hand at making twisted fiber cordage, which can be made from many types of natural sources like leaves, grass or green bark.


Class Project: Silkworms
Your silkworm should spin a silk cocoon within several days, if it is kept clean, warm (80 degrees) and well fed. 

Silkworms are very sensitive to mold and bacteria so always wash your hands well before handling, cleaning and feeding. Keep the container lid on to prevent mold spores from settling in, and to stop the food from drying out too quickly.

If you run out of food, call us as we may be able to provide you with more.  You can also feed your silkworm grated carrots in an emergency, though it may turn orange.

You can learn more about your silkworm at this link to  Mulberry Farms.

This week we explore the world of citizen science! We are working on three projects:

1.  Whale Song Project.  Online, we are helping scientists identify the songs of pilot whales and killer whales.  The whales have names and their current locations can be tracked on the project website.  By matching spectrographs  (visual images) of the whale songs and comparing the sounds, we can help the scientists create a large data pool.
You can try your hand at this yourself by logging in to the Whale Song Project website at http://whale.fm/


2.  Urban Wildlife at Prairie Ridge Ecostation.  Prairie Ridge Ecostation is managed by the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Currently, the station has several camera traps set up on the property.  We can help them identify the animals that come and go, both day and night, by sorting through the images from the traps and identifying the animals we see in them....deer, grey fox, red fox, coyote, rabbit....all sorts of critters are around! 

You can contact Chris Goforth at Prairie Ridge for more information, other opportunities to help sort image data or move camera traps.
E mail: chris.goforth@naturalsciences.org
Phone: (919) 707-8882


3.  School of Ants. 
Scientists at University of Florida and at NC State University are trying to collect as much information as possible on all the ant species in the country, and maybe even in the world!  We can help by collecting ant samples and sending them in to the scientists.  Our take-home project today is a kit for doing just this.  Instructions are included with the kit.  Wait for a warm day!

Note: you can mail the samples directly to the address included in the kit, or you can bring them back in to us and we will send them in.

Visit the School of Ants website at http://schoolofants.org/ for more information on the project.  Once you have entered your ant data, you will be able to see your collection information online!

What you'll need to build a Balloon Chord Zither:
Balloon
2x4 or 1x4 board, approximately 2 feet long
7 inch rubber bands (available at Staples)
2 pencils

Wrap the rubber bands lengthwise around the board.
Blow up the balloon.  Big is OK!
Pull up on the rubber bands and push the balloon underneath them so it is trapped between them and the board.  It can be in the center or towards one end.
Slide a pencil between the balloon and the rubber bands, one pencil on each side.  The rubber bands should only touch the balloon on its top, not after the go over the pencil.
Pluck the "strings"gently.
You can tune the zither by pulling the rubber bands more tightly to the bottom of the board.
You can increase the sound (amplification) by leaning a styrofoam cooler or cardboard box against the strings.

Get your Owl Eyes working........we're going to examine patterns and puzzles in nature.  How DO those animals hide so well?

The science of sleep shows us some fascinating things about the hours we and other mammals spend asleep.  Who "hibernates" and who just "sleeps" or is there a difference?   What happens to the hibernating animal's body when they go into this state?  Is this different from what our bodies do in deep sleep phases?  Can humans hibernate?  

We found some surprising answers: yes, humans can hibernate if needed, and maybe even on purpose!  Tibetan monks can lower their oxygen needs about 60% when they are meditating. Scientists have isolated a gas called hydrogen sulfide that induces a hibernation-like state in mammals with only 10% of the oxygen needs during regular sleep.  Could come in handy when traveling to Mars, or after a surgery to allow the body to heal.  (Growth hormone releases increase during sleep which makes sleeping the time we do a lot of healing.)

The basic cycle of a hibernating bear in Minnesota - normal activity, hyperphagia (eating a lot), preparation for hibernation (by reducing food, but drinking more), hibernation and "walking hibernation" (the wake-up phase where low amounts of food are consumed) - is modified in warmer climates like North Carolina, where the bears will wake up several times during winter.  And if weather gets too cold in Minnesota, the dropping temperatures in the bear's hibernaculum (or den) signal it to wake up and begin to shiver so it stays warm.  So climate seems to play a role in whether or not a particular species hibernates in the traditional sense.  But there are degrees of "sleepiness" based on where the animal lives.

We recorded how our pulse speeds up with activity and slows down with resting, as does our breathing rate. We tested how cold winter winds affect our body temperatures, and built a hibernaculum (winter shelter) to protect us. 

Research question for the week is: What do you line the bottom of your den with in order to keep the cold from the earth from seeping up while you sleep?  Hint: it creates air pockets.

Most people immediately think of tropical rainforests when someone says "canopy" but the truth is that any and every forest has a canopy layer.  So there are canopy-living species right here in our deciduous hardwood forests of North Carolina.  The main difference is that in the tropical rain forests, there is much greater diversity of species that have adapted to specific living conditions at certain heights in the trees.  Many of our canopy species tend to utilize the understory and forest floor as well (think squirrels!)

For example, tropical epiphytes (a kind of plant) live on tree branches and get their moisture from fog.  Research has shown in that if the plants are moved onto lower tree limbs where they don't get as much water, they begin to die.  So the height at which they grow seems to be tied to the moisture level they need. (There may well be other factors as well.) 
Here's an interesting research question for all you scientists to pursue more: what changes occur to the heights of cloud layers as global temperatures rise?

One well-loved canopy species has been in the news a lot the last few years due to destruction of the of the tropical lowland forests in Madagascar.  The lemur is a leaf-muching, tree-climbing critter that can NOT hang by its tail. In class this week we had a Madagascar Forest Council to see if we could figure out ways to help the lemurs and their forest friends peacefully coexist with humans. Here's a link to a website with additional information on the situation.  Our project this week was making Golden Lemur masks (see pic above), which we wore to the Council meeting.

A great way to experience canopy life is to go on a canopy tour!  There are some cool zip line tours right here in the North Carolina mountains.